Checks / Links, canonical and speed
www and non-www both serve the site
example.com and www.example.com both answer 200 without redirecting to one, which splits links and creates duplicates.
www_inconsistent · Links, canonical and speed · Warning
What triggers it
The other host name (with or without www) answers 200 instead of redirecting to your main one.
What to change
Pick one host and 301-redirect the other to it.
Example
Server setting:
# nginx
server {
server_name www.example.com;
return 301 https://example.com$request_uri;
}How to confirm the fix
- Open the other host (www or not): it should redirect to the main one
- Run a new crawl
How common it is
We have not measured how common this is on a sample of sites. Counts appear here when a study covers it.
About this check
| Check ID | www_inconsistent |
|---|---|
| Report section | Links, canonical and speed |
| Severity | Warning |
| How it is decided | Measured: read directly from the page or the server's response. |
| Added | Before 19 Oct 2026 (versions 1 and 2), or a site-wide check with no version date yet |
| Status | Measured in every report |
| Report gives the code | Yes, one block for the site |
Settings by platform
Where the setting lives on a few platforms, from each platform's own help page, read on 26 October 2026. On any other server, apply the fix box above.
Cloudflare
In Cloudflare: Rules Overview → Create rule → Redirect Rule → 301. (Cloudflare help page)
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